1. Field
The invention is related to the provision of location information regarding a user, such as the user of a mobile communication device, to a third party. In particular, the invention is related to the privacy of such location information.
2. Description of Related Art
It is recognised in the art that privacy is important to the provision of location based service (LBS) solutions for cellular networks. For example, 3GPP LoCation Services (LCS) and Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) standards include mechanisms to enable subscribers to control, to some degree, who can locate them.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system, indicated generally by the reference numeral 2, demonstrating the protection of user privacy in an LBS system. The system 2 comprises a location based service (LBS) client 4 and a Gateway Mobile Location Centre (GMLC) 6. The GMLC 6 includes a privacy manager (PM) 8.
The GMLC 6 enables the LBS client 4 to request information regarding the location of a defined subscriber. For example, the GMLC 6 may support the 3GPP Gateway Mobile Location Centre (GMLC) and OMA SUPL Location Platform (SLP) functionalities.
The privacy manager 8 enables subscribers to control their privacy settings. Thus, the privacy manager 8 ensures that location information is only disclosed to the LBS client 4 in accordance with rules specified by the subscriber. By way of example, the privacy manager 8 may contain a privacy profile set by a subscriber having some of the following features:                Subscribers may define services that are allowed to access their location information.        Subscribers may define services that are not allowed to access their location information.        Subscribers may limit exposing their location information to a group of named people.        Subscribers may limit when and/or where they allow themselves to be located.        
By way of example, a subscriber may specify in his privacy settings that any individual listed as being his friend can locate him at the weekend (but not between Monday and Friday), but only if the subscriber is located in Helsinki.
Although currently available systems enable a user to set a privacy profile, the profile is typically static. Any changes to the profile need to be set by a user; this is time-consuming and inconvenient for the user.
The present invention seeks to address at least some of the problems outlined above.